The following are my hardware specs:CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Heka 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Intel Core i5 compatible Hyper TX3 Socket 775/1156/AMD 130W 92mm "heatpipe direct contact" HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard DriveMotherboard: ASUS AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Video Card: EVGA 512-P3-1140-TR GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI SupportPower Supply: COOLMAX 700W ATX 12V V2.3RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel KitMicrosoft W7 64 BitMy question is, using FSX, what type of performance "should" I be seeing... And secondly, are there any hardware upgrades you would suggest that will increase performance?Thank you in advance for your help. I greatly appreciate your feedback.

performance wise I am not sure but my guess is it will be decent but not great. As far as upgrades the best thing would be to upgrade the CPU to an AMD 6 core as it is compatible with your motherboard, then when you get a chance upgrade the video card.

No. I'd recommend upgrading your graphics card to a GTX460 or higher first. Going from 4 cores to 6 cores will only gain a 10% improvement, so going from 3 to 6 cores will only gain about 13-14% increase, which is not that much. However, many users on this forum with lower spec'd cards, such as yours, found large performance increases by upgrading they're graphics card. Youshould eventually upgrade your CPU, but for now, the GPU should be upgraded.

Overclock your CPU. More cores will not help at all (except for some faster texture loading maybe)Even though your GPU is not great, I don't think upgrading it is the answer either, but it depends on your expectations.Make sure you have light bloom turned off in the FSX settings, also water at low 2.x at most, and no airport vehicles

Thank you all for your suggestions. I greatly appreciate it.To upgrade my graphics card, what would your suggestions be? GTX460?Overclocking sounds good, but I have heard you really need to know what your doing, and I will be honest, I don't. I built my computer (1st one) myself, but that was just plugging components in... Is there a tutorial on overclocking my specific CPU?

Overclocking sounds good, but I have heard you really need to know what your doing, and I will be honest, I don't. I built my computer (1st one) myself, but that was just plugging components in... Is there a tutorial on overclocking my specific CPU?

Overclocking today's chips is safe. They have thermal protection and it's very unlikely that you will fry it. Of course it'll take some reading but it pays off especially for FSX given that it's so CPU bound.Your CPU is a black edition, meaning that it has unlocked multipliers which makes them easier to overclockAlso those X3 can sometimes be unlocked to quads, but that's another story.I can help you with the overclock, as I used to have a Phenom II also. Add me in skype dario.iriberri if you want

Thanks Dario! I will add you when I get in later this evening. I really truly appreciate your help!